Beach nourishment, dune restoration at center of discussion

WELLS — Residents of Drakes Island and visitors to Laudholm Farm and the Drakes Island beach area are no strangers to sand dune erosion or the ongoing attempts at beach nourishment and restoration.

Despite frequent attempts bringing sand to renourish the dunes, the Drakes Island Beach is once again in need of restoration.

The question being asked from a scientific perspective is whether beach nourishment in that area should be addressed in the short term by bringing in smaller quantities of sand on an annual basis, whether the town should look toward a long-term solution that could be an attempt at rebuilding the beach's berm and dune, or whether both are viable options.

In a meeting at the Wells Reserve at Laudholm Farm Tuesday, individuals from Drakes Island, the Wells Reserve and Laudholm Trust, Save Our Shores, Rachel Carson Wildlife Refuge, the town and the Maine Geological Survey to revisit the question of beach nourishment in that region.

Recently a group of stakeholders have begun to reconsider whether a renourishment project that would combine salt marsh restoration with an opportunity to bring in 100,000 cubic yards of sand to the Drakes Island dune system is a viable project.

Bob Foley, a proponent of the idea, presented the concept to the group on Tuesday. While the project has been discussed in years passed, most seriously in 1993, when the Federal Government refused to fund it, Foley noted that since that time parameters including the impact on property owners and wildlife habitat have become more important to the federal government's decision-making process for funding.

"The project is multifaceted and would remove sand from the marsh, including dune grass, and truck it to Drakes Island placing into the dune system area," said Foley.

Using culverts under the Harbor Road, the project would encourage the exchange of salt water to reinvigorate the marsh, while on Drakes Island, the dune grass would re-vegetate and create a more permanent dune.

"If we do not do something within three to five years," said Foley, "the dune will break through."

The feasibility of this project is not without question, since over the years beach and dune nourishment in that area have not held strong.

Many attempts have been made over the years to restore and replenish the dune, but to the lay observer, those attempts have been unsuccessful and the tide has regularly washed the sand away.

Wells Reserve Manager Paul Dest said that he sees the tide washing away the dune daily. "If you put a greater amount of sand in, it will just take longer to wash away," he said.

In 2003, the Drakes Island Beach received a influx of sand, when the town paid for 6,000 cubic yards to be brought onto the beach system. That project's visible success was limited, as 18 months years later, it looks as if the beach needs another infusion of sand.

Town Manager Jon Carter said that during his tenure, these infusions of sand have been done three or four times, each time washing away. "We are clearly trying to think through the long term," said Carter. "We have gone through all of the extra sand we have but we are not shutting the door on anything."

That sentiment was echoed throughout the meeting on Tuesday, with the State Marine Geologist Stephen Dickson providing careful insight into the Wells beach system's character historically and scientifically.

The health of the Drakes Island Beach and dunes is historically linked to the construction of Wells Harbor in 1962 and installation of a jetty system, which over 20 years had a dramatic affect on the distribution of sand throughout the Wells beaches. Dickson noted that the jetties are no longer the primary active player in shifting sand around in the Wells beach system.

The fundamental issue is that over 40 years, two million cubic yards of sand have been moved around, some entirely removed from the region and now the beaches are operating on a deficit of sand.

Therefore, when sand is moved around by a northeaster storm it has a more dramatic affect on the beach's sand composition.

One ray of hope for past nourishment projects is that, while the sand brought to the dune system is no longer above the water, it may remain as part of the beach's overall sand volume, decreasing the net loss of sand to the whole beach system.

Peter Slavinsky of the Maine Geological Survey offered the most permanent solution, which could be a long term goal for the Drakes Island area. That is, to determine a position for the frontal dune crest slightly further back from the ocean in order to build up the dune as well as the berm, which could effectively dissipate waves before they hit the dune itself.

Dickson said that one step that could help the town move toward a real approach to dune restoration is through developing a needs statement for restoration that succinctly ties together the reasons for beach nourishment at Drakes Island including safety for property owners, habitat for wildlife, recreation, and reversal of land loss.

That statement, if endorsed by stakeholders and local property owners can then be taken to the state and federal government in search of support.

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